Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Can the Minister confirm, as reported last week, that the interim or transitional board, as the Minister refers to it, of the new national children's hospital will only begin tendering for a design team next month and that it will be summer 2014 before a planning application is submitted? As the Minister has indicated in his reply, the decision to locate the hospital at St. James's was made way back in early November, so this is a full six months later. Why has the tendering for a design team not begun before now, given the urgency of this major health infrastructure project? How does the Minister account for the delay? Given the disappointment that has been created by the decisions relevant to the initial Mater site identification, what will happen now concerning the project's ultimate delivery and completion? Are we really talking about 2018? Will the Minister intervene to help expedite this badly needed hospital facility?

See this speech in context